If you’re too young to understand the title–that’s fine. Leave it to us oldies to chuckle.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to host a radio show? When I first started Teen Talk Radio two years ago, I was nervous that I’d be a flop on the air, I’d run out of material, or that people would see it as self-serving. Well, two years later, having recently expanded to Choose NOW Radio with both Teen Talk and Parent Talk, I can say that my fears were unfounded and I’ve had the time of my life!

Here’s a link to a recent show I did with non other than the talented, Gina Conroy!

1. Do you love to converse? This is different than public speaking. I try to run my shows are like conversations that I have in public with people I admire. Every once in a while I have a guest that I just can’t connect with no matter what I try, but that’s so rare it’s almost not worth mentioning.

2. Do you generally like people? That might sound like a strange question, but it’s really important. If you’re going to have guests and talk to them about their work, you need to genuinely like, or at least appreciate, them, their efforts, and their time. It’s just a matter of having the mindset to enjoy people and what they enjoy. That comes across on the air and makes guests comfy.

3. Do you have a something to say that people want to or need to hear? If you launch a show, you need a specific audience narrow enough to be considered focused, but broad enough that you’re not limiting yourself to five people. For example, a show on travel to foreign countries is good, but a show on Ethiopian tattoo shops might be too narrow a focus. My shows are about choices–teens making good ones and parents helping them do that.

4. Are you able to make the time? Being honest here, I don’t have time. I didn’t have time when I first launched my show and then even less when I launched the second one. But I wanted to do it and felt strongly enough that I was called to do it, that I made/make the time. It can be done.

5. Are you okay with vulnerability? This is a big one for a lot of people. I often end a show and wish I’d said something different, or hadn’t starting choking on my coffee, or wished the tornado sirens hadn’t gone off…but the fact is, it’s a recording and it’s NOT going to be perfect. You have to be okay with that. If it’s live, it’s a one-shot deal and then it’s done. Depending on the service you use, you may have minor editing capability, but you can’t fix everything. That’s part of the authenticity of it, though. You have to be able to shrug it off and move on.

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